Teachers should get the best help to help students be their best: Teacher Sam
All teachers should be assisted to perform at the best of their abilities during their set working hours, said Global Teacher Prize 2020 finalist Samuel Isaiah.
Particularly for teachers placed in challenging conditions, Samuel, who came to national attention for his work with the Orang Asli communities in rural Pahang, said he was personally taught to always put the needs of others above self.
All teachers should be assisted to perform at the best of their abilities during their set working hours, said Global Teacher Prize 2020 finalist Samuel Isaiah.
Particularly for teachers placed in challenging conditions, Samuel, who came to national attention for his work with the Orang Asli communities in rural Pahang, said he was personally taught to always put the needs of others above self.
"My parents brought me up not to have the love for money, not to have the love for success but to put the need of others above self, that was my upbringing. But if you're talking about avoiding burnout, we need to help teachers," said the former English teacher at SK Runchang, Muadzam Shah, Pahang.
"We can't realistically expect every teacher to go above and beyond to do everything for their students
"Because at the end of the day, let us be very real, it is a job," said the 33-year-old, known to his primary school students as "Teacher Sam".
Back in Malaysia due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, the Fulbright scholar at the State University of New York in Albany, US, recalled that his passion had fueled him to overcome various challenges over the last eight years at the rural school.
"I don't like to talk so much about the challenges I faced because I did it willingly and I'm very happy to do it over and over and over again.
"But I can't really expect other people to do the same. It doesn't make any sense," he said.
"Therefore, to avoid burnout, I think we need to ensure that teachers get all the help possible to do whatever they can in order to do their best in that seven hours, to give the best to their kids," he further said.
Currently pursuing a Masters in Educational Policy and Leadership, Isaiah said that teachers should be given full support to maximise their potential, including as a leader in a classroom.
Beyond the classroom, Samuel noted that a teacher's duties extended to what was often described as burdensome "clerical work".
"I take pride in assessing what my children do. Could it have been easier? Yes, it could have. Assessment is not clerical work, that is what you're supposed to be doing," he said.
At the same time, he reiterated that education policies should look towards giving teachers no excuses by providing them with the best help available to do their job.
Samuel was speaking during a webinar hosted by Edufication, a local movement he founded to reignite the education discourse in Malaysia.
Among others, the group aims to pursue frequent engagements of uncomfortable questions that could address real, changing, evolving, and growing issues in the education sector.
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